Linkage bar for wrenches



April 9, 1968 L. F. FORTUNATO 3,376,768

LINKAGE BAR FOR WRENCHES Filed April 13, 1967 Fleas INVENTOR. LOUIS FORTUNATO BY 8&4,

F'IC3.7

ATTORNEY United States Patent Office 3,376,768 LINKAGE BAR FOR WRENCHES Louis F. Fortunate, 2510 Audrey Terrace, Union, NJ. 07083 Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 493,645,

Oct. 7, 1965. This application Apr. 13, 1967, Ser.

3 Claims. (CI. 81-177) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention deals with a linkage bar for wrenches and more particularly with a linkage .bar connectable between a pair of wrenches at least one of which is a. double-headed end wrench. The linkage bar is pro vided with a pair of stud-like projections one at each end thereof with one of the stud-like projections having fiat perimetrical faces defining a polygon and the other stud-like projection having flat perimetrical faces also defining a polygon, but the fiat faces of one stud-like projection being disposed at different angles relative to the bar axis than that of the other.

This application is a continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 493,645, filed Oct. 7, 1965, now abancloned.

Background of the invention In the disconnection or removal of components of machines or other composite structures which are held together by nuts and bolts, there are sometimes difficulties encountered when the nuts are so tightly secured that the ordinary wrenches employed are too short to provide sufiicient leverage and necessary torque for the removal of the tightly secured nuts. This condition is additionally aggravated when the nuts and bolts are located in relatively inaccessible locations such that straight long bars connected to the applied wrench for additional leverage cannot be employed due to space limitations and passages which do not permit the use of long straight lever bars.

Summary of the invention The invention relates to an elongated linkage bar having both opposite end portions thereof provided with stud projections extending laterally outwardly of the bar along a common plane normal to the bar axis and each having a plurality of flat wrench-engaging perimetrical surfaces about their axes mateable faces of a wrench, the wrench-engaging surfaces being distributed on the stud perimeters at different angles about the stud axis to provide for mateable gripping with a wrench at various angles, whereby the bar is capable of linkage between a pair of wrenches for movement of the angular positions of the wrenches for movement in a common direction, i.e. in a common direction about the axis of the nut being removed.

Description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is an elevational side view of a linkage bar according to the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a front view along line 2-2 of FIG- URE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a rear view along lines 3-3 of FIG- URE 1,

FIGURE 4 is an elevational side view of the linkage bar illustrating a modification of the invention,

FIGURE 5 illustrates a cross-section of a theoretical cylinder having a series of angular facets or faces circumscribing the cylinder,

with the gripping sur- 3,376,768 Patented Apr. 9, 1968 FIGURE 6 is a front plan view showing the linkage bar linked between a pair of wrenches, and

FIGURE 7 illustrates an isometric view of a modification of the invention.

Description of'the preferred embodiments Regarding the FIGURES, the linkage bar of the invention as illustrated comprises an elongated rectangular bar 1 preferably formed of suitable tool-grade metal. The bar comprises opposite ends 2 and 3 and front and rear surfaces or faces 4 and 5. While the bar is illustrated as rectangular, it can also be of cylindrical form with the faces 4 and 5 being diametrically opposed arcuate faces or surfaces. At both opposite end portions of the bar 1 adjacent each of the opposite ends 2 and 3 there are provided projecting studs 6 and 7, respectively, extending outwardly from the front surface 4 in a common direction normal to the longitudinal axis of the bar as illustrated by FIGURE 1. Preferably, projecting studs 8 and 9 are also similarly provided on the rear surface 5. While FIGURE 1 illustrates a pair of studs 6 and 7 of similar configuration relative to each other extending from the front surface 4 and a pair of studs 8 and 9 of similar configuration relative to each other extending from the rear surface 5, but differing in configuration from studs 6 and 7, FIGURE 4 illustrates a modification showing the configuration of studs 6 and 8 and 7 and 9' being interchangeable so that studs of dissimilar configuration relative to each other may extend outwardly from a common surface 4 or 5. Also, while the FIGURES illustrate studs extending from both the front and rear surfaces 4 and 5, only one of the surfaces 4 0r 5 may be provided with a pair of either similar or dissimilar studs, for example, of the configurations illustrated. As a still further modification, one of the surfaces 4 or 5 may be provided with only one of the studs at an end portion thereof, while the other surface is provided with one stud at its end remote from the other stud. While the studs, for example, studs 6 and 8, are dissimilar in appearance they have the common general characteristic of being defined by a perimeter in the form of a series of adjacent fiat facets or faces angularly disposed relative to each other circumscribing a theoretical cylinder and having substantially diametrically opposed flat surfaces about the perimeter thereof. This definition would include the polygens of even-numbered sides such as a hexagon and perimetrically faceted studs such as stud 7 having flat surfaced facets or faces more clearly illustrated by FIGURE 5. Regarding FIGURE 5, there is shown fiat facets 10 and 10 substantially diametrically opposed to fiat facets 11 and 11, respectively, and flat facets 12 and 12' substantially diametrically opposed to fiat facets 13 and 13', respectively, as shown by the arrows. The facets are shown adjacent each other and angularly disposed relative to each other, such as facet 10 relative to facet 12, and circumscribe the theoretical cylinder 14. Preferably, the facets, e.g. facets 10 and 12' form an angle of relative to each other. It will be noted from FIGURE 5 that the stud 7 is exactly mateable with a box end wrench having gripping surfaces formed by two hexagonal configurations in a common plane with one hexagon rotatable relative to the other providing twelve gripping positions about a 360 rotation. Thus, such a box end wrench is equally applicable to hexagonal studs 8 and 9 as well as the studs 6 and 7.

FIGURE 6 illustrates the linkage bar 1 of the invention linked between a pair of wrenches 15 and 16. Wrench 15 is depicted as a double-headed box end wrench while wrench 16 is a combination open-ended wrench and box end wrench. A wrench having an open end is applicable to the hexagon studs while a box-end wrench is applicable to both types of studs 7 and 8.

In addition to the pair of studs provided at least on one side of the bar, the bar is advantageously provided with polygonal apertures 17 and 18 one each adjacent one of said studs and positioned between the studs, whereby a tongue bar may be used should additional nut loosening force be required.

Since the linkage bar is linkable between a pair of wrenches, it need be only a short length because the wrenches themselves supply the necessary combined length for good leverage.

FIGURE 7 illustrates a preferred form of the invention and differs from FIGURES 1 through in that the hexagonal projections 19 and 20 are rotated relative to each other and relative to the longitudinal axis of the bar 1 so that the flat faces 21 of projection 19 is perimetrically angularly disposed at different angles than the flat faces 22 of projection 20 relative to the longitudinal axis of the bar 1.

For example, each of the fiat faces 22 of projection 20 is perimetrically disposed in a clock-wise direction at an angle of 30 difference from the flat faces 21 of projection 19 relative to the bar axis. In this manner openend Wrenches applied to both projections will have an angular difference of only 30 in application where they would have had an angular difference of 60 were the projections not so oriented relative to each other. With box-end wrenches, the angular difference is reduced to only a difference as compared to a 30 difference without the particular relationship according to the invention. With this arrangement the linkage bar supplies the angular versatility of ratchet wrenches and more and has the added advantage that higher torque stresses can be applied with double-headed end wrenches than possible with ratchet-type wrenches. Also, the studs 19 and 20 are provided with coaxial hexagonal recesses 23 and 24 whereby second and third linkage bars having similar studs of smaller diameter than studs 19 and 20 are en- 4- gageable with the recesses 23 and 24 to provide a chain of linkage bars when desirable.

Various modifications are contemplated within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A linkage bar specifically for conventional box-end and open-end wrenches comprising a short straight bar having opposite end portions, both opposite end portions of the bar being provided with a wrench head engaging stud-like projection extending laterally outwardly of a common side of the bar along a common longitudinal plane containing the bar axis, each stud-like pr jection having a hexagonal perimeter defined by a series of adjacent flat faces angularly disposed relative to each other circumscribing a theoretical cylinder, each fiat face being substantially diametrically opposed to another fiat face on the perimeter, and the flat faces of one of the stud-like projections being perimetrically angularly disposed at different angles than that of the flat faces of the other stud-like projection relative to the bar axis.

2. A linkage bar according to claim 1, comprising a pair of said stud-like projections extending outwardly from both sides of the bar.

3. A linkage bar according to claim 1 wherein each stud-like projection comprises a coaxial hexagonal recess.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,446,988 2/1923 Osburn 8l-121 2,605,665 8/1952 Grenat 81l77 X 3,039,339 6/1962 Hanson 81-177 MILTON S. MEHR, Primary Examiner. 

